The “Mizzou Legacy Walk” stretches from the sidewalk to the entrance of the Reynolds Alumni Center and has over 2,500 bricks with names of former MU students and professors. 

Originally dedicated in 2007, this project was the Mizzou Alumni Association’s gift to campus in celebration of its 150th anniversary. The project finished in 2012, and earned over $1 million  that was allocated into student scholarships. 

Todd McCubbin, Executive Director of the association said he saw the opportunity to help raise money that they could give back to current MU students, while honoring those who came before them.

“Essentially it was a sales opportunity where people could buy a brick and have it sold out here in front of our building,” McCubbin said. “This certainly turned into a little bit more of an engagement opportunity. It’s kind of fun to see [during] football weekend[s] or Homecoming. You’ll walk out there, and you’ll have families looking around for their brick[s].” 

1986 MU graduate Heidi Templeton said her family’s legacy is attached to their bricks. To honor the three generations of her immediate and extended family that are MU alums, Templeton and her husband Scott have purchased bricks for both themselves and Heidi’s parents Betty Lou and Robert Crist. Although both of Heidi’s parents have passed, the Legacy Walk allows her to honor them at MU forever.

 “One of the first years they had all the bricks installed, my daughter and I went and took the cutest picture of us honoring her grandparents’ bricks,” Templeton said. “So when we get to go visit campus, we enjoy going to the Alumni Center, seeing our bricks and talking about all the memories associated with that brick.”

Although the Legacy Walk sold out a few years ago, just down the street, the alumni association built Traditions Plaza in 2014 to celebrate MU’s 175th anniversary. Bricks are still sold for around $175 and are installed in the plaza every Homecoming weekend and during the week of graduation in May. 

“We have a lot of people that buy bricks as a gift for somebody that’s retiring, somebody that has a special anniversary or as an honorific situation,” McCubbin said.

Out of over 300,000 MU alums, Heidi and her family are among the many that have returned to MU to celebrate Homecoming.

“[It’s] such a wonderful feeling to be able to go back and feel all those connections that we had [at] the university and know that what we’re doing by giving back is doing good for the university,” Templeton said.

Edited by Molly Levine | mlevine@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Emma Short | eshort@themaneater.com 

Copy edited by Hannah Taylor | htaylor@themaneater.com 

Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com